Hi Ranelle,
This pair has been shuffled around a lot in a short period of time, but there is no reason to think they may not breed again. Most first clutches fail anyway, and their first one with you might not be successful. To begin with, I would remove the nest box just for the time being. The pair needs time to fully adjust to their new home and become familiar with their surroundings. Cockatiels will breed when the weather is warmer, days are longer, food is abundant and their environment is safe and stable. In captivity, this can cause them to breed all year, which is not good for them.
To get them in good condition, they need to be on a nutritionally balanced diet – a loose seed mix does not provide much or any nutrition. You can offer a pelleted mix, but we recommend our foraging diets – Nutri-Berries, Avi-Cakes and Pellet-Berries – because they are nutritionally balanced the same as a pellet, but they contain whole seeds that are more natural to their diet in the wild. We use fresh, hulled seeds that are locally grown, combined with other ingredients to provide complete nutrition. You can feed these foods along with or instead of pellets. In addition, you should offer chopped veggies and fruits, dark leafy greens, cooked eggs with the shell cooked with them ad multi grain bread. The latter two foods are mainly just fed for preparing to breed and until chicks are weaned.
You need to select a quiet, private location for the cage during breeding and nesting. Breeding birds need privacy. You should only be around them to feed them and clean the cage. Don’t move or change anything with the cage during breeding time. As you suspected, moving them to the 2nd owners caused them to abandon the eggs.
Once the pair is settled in and feels safe, they should start to court and mate. Once this begins, you can replace the nest box. If they are successful, remember you will have to remove the chicks once they are weaned as they can’t remain with the parents. The parent will either bully them to make them leave or as they get older, they may mate with their own offspring and related birds should not be allowed to breed.
After a successful clutch, or after a clutch of eggs even if they don’t hatch, you will remove the nest box and rest them for a few months before allowing them to breed again. To make them rest, you can do the opposite of preparing them to reed – you can move the cage to a busier room in the house and move things around or reduce daylight and fresh foods to discourage breeding again too soon.
Here is our feeding guide for diet ideas:
Bird Food Guide
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
